


Little Stranger

by Not_You



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Breakfast, Bruce Feels, Clint Feels, F/M, Family, Fan Comics, Fan Letters, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hate mail, Interviews, M/M, Multi, Natasha Feels, Original Character(s), POV Outsider, Parents & Children, Pregnancy, Press and Tabloids, Public Display of Affection, Reaction, Steve Feels, Unplanned Pregnancy, but we know this child will be fine because it is an an avengerbaby, death threats to a child
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-21
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2017-12-12 11:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/811250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_You/pseuds/Not_You
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for a (lost! :D) kinkmeme prompt for Natasha getting pregnant in the context of OT6.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

1\. Natasha is not fit to be a mother. She is bitterly aware of this, sitting on the closed lid of her toilet and watching another test come up positive. She hadn't even thought she could anymore after years of compulsory and often contraindicated birth control. SHIELD had removed the last IUD at her request, but she hadn't actually investigated her fertility status and hates herself now for being so stupid. She doesn't even know whose it is, and she grimaces. It would be so much more sensible to get rid of it and tell no one, but she seems to have gotten sentimental in her old age. The idea doesn't sit right anymore, and she's furious to find herself changed without her knowledge again.

"Tasha?" It's Clint, knocking lightly on the door, and she groans.

"Come in."

He does, and blinks to see what's in her hand. "...Are you?"

"...Yes."

He just nods, and she's grateful that he's holding it together. Natasha stands, throwing the test away and washing her hands. "I don't know why I need to tell the others."

Clint shrugs, taking her hand. "It's your decision, Tasha." He holds her hand all the way down to what has become the common room, and they call the others together. Thor only got back into town yesterday, and beams the second he sees Natasha. Steve just looks confused, Tony somewhere between worried and confused, and Bruce always looks worried, so it's hard to tell.

"I have something to tell you," Natasha says, and Thor quivers like a puppy. Steve and Bruce give her their full and courteous attention, and Tony looks up from his phone, blinking. 

"What, are you pregnant?"

"She is!" Thor can no longer contain himself, flinging his hands joyously ceilingward.

Natasha rolls her eyes. "Yes. I am," her hand goes to her still flat belly, and Clint puts his arms around her. It's Bruce who approaches first. He smiles faintly and brushes a lock of hair out of her face.

"We'll help you, Natasha."

2\. Thor is overjoyed, of course. As a fertility deity he just can't stop beaming, and the constant hugs and belly rubs would be irritating if they didn't feel so nice. He somehow treats her gently without being patronizing, and claims to hear the tiny embryo as a single, ringing note. It's very faint now, with many breaks in the sound. It will be stronger later, he tells her. She's still not positive she's keeping it, but that gets more likely every day. The others all pad nervously around her, unsure. Steve has of course already offered to marry her and been turned down. Tony has more realistically offered to make the kid his heir if she keeps it. Natasha had just rolled her eyes and pointed out that adoption by someone normal is probably preferable to having the Black Widow for a mother, and had been surprised at the wounded look Tony had given her.

"Really? You think having the Avengers for parents would suck that bad? I mean, yeah, they'd have to worry about us getting killed, but there are six of us and we have friends who could raise them and we could totally leave them enough money to do it… I mean, I'll be a shit dad, but I think I might be a perfectly good Uncle Tony."

3\. It's late, but Natasha doesn't keep regular hours. Prowling down to the kitchen at three in the morning (because her morning sickness works the other way, nothing she eats between nine a.m. and midnight staying down), she hears the tell-tale sounds of Clint getting a bit maudlin. It's interesting, but right now liquor holds no appeal. Her hand rests on her belly as she stalks closer, listening.

"—And I know she's thinking that I'm bearing up under the strain and supporting her during a bad time, but…"

There's a lump in her throat as she listens, because if this is enough to drive Clint away, she doesn't know what she'll do, torn in half by her most stable adult relationship and her bizarre loyalty to the little parasite inside her.

"But?" It's Steve's voice, very gentle, and she knows without seeing that he's resting one of those big hands on Clint's shoulder.

"But I'm just so fuckin' happy." Clint's voice cracks and Natasha's head spins. For a moment she thinks she'll wake up, or slump to the floor in some kind of drugged stupor, anything to explain why reality has tilted like this. "I mean, I haven't always wanted to be a dad, I don't even really like babies that much, but this one would be _Tasha's_ , y'know?"

"I get it."

"She's just so fucking special. And I don't mean all that Red Room bullshit or whatever she got dosed or zapped with. I mean _her_. She's so strong and smart, and so, so fuckin' brave. I can't handle how goddamn brave that girl is sometimes, y'know?" His voice hitches, and she grimaces, because Clint only cries when he's drunk, and not often then.

"I do know, Clint. I feel the same." There's a pause long enough that she knows Steve is kissing Clint's sloppy mouth that probably tastes of one of his godawful concoctions (gin and grape soda may be the lowest so far), and then he's murmuring about how much he loves all of them, and it's always just too sweet for her to bear.

4\. "I'm keeping it." She tells Bruce first, because Bruce is something like a doctor, and she trusts him much more than any actual doctor she knows.

"Forever, or to term?" He asks, setting down his herbal tea.

"…Forever." As soon as Natasha says it out loud, she realizes just how much she means it.

"With all of us?"

"As long as we can manage." Her throat knots up the way it always does when she says, "I love you," and means it. The words come out as a pathetic croak, and Bruce comes around the table to hug her tightly.

"We love you too."

"You and Hulk?" She teases, and Bruce smiles.

"Yeah, me and Hulk too."

"Maternity leave is going to bore me shitless."

It does, but Fury is kind enough to give her files to read and codes to crack, and the rest of her team pampers her. Clint holds her hair out of the way while she throws up, Bruce teaches her breathing exercises that make her throw up less. Steve cooks for her when she can eat, and provides all the cuddles she suddenly craves whenever Thor isn't. There are days where Thor just carries her around like a doll and Natasha is happy to let him. None of them are sure how Hulk will take things until there's another alien attack. Natasha is safe in their panic room for civilians and squishies, listening to the cacophony outside. And then it gets quiet again, and then there's banging on the blast doors.

"TASHA!" Hulk roars, trying to batter his way in to her. 

She can't help the surge of terror, remembering the helicarrier, but scrambles up and enters the opening code, yelling, "I'm all right!"

As soon as he can see her, Hulk starts to calm down. He comes close and gathers Natasha into his arms, cuddling her close to his chest. "TASHA SAFE."

"Yes, I am."

Hulk rumbles, gently touching her belly. "SAFE?"

"Safe," she tells him, and kisses his massive green hand.

5\. Thor knows the instant Natasha's labor starts, and carries her straight to their own medical center, yelling for Bruce. Natasha chuckles through the pain and tells him to relax, which makes him laugh. It hurts, it hurts a fuck of a lot, but pain is nothing new to Natasha, and soon all of them are there, from their various regions of the tower and on their various schedules. It's four in the morning, so Steve is up early, Tony and Bruce are up late, and Clint just got back from Marrakesh and isn't really awake or asleep, a jet-lagged zombie.

"Thank god I got back yesterday," Clint mutters, taking Natasha's hand. She nods, and grinds his bones together. It's funny. Natasha has thought about giving birth more than once, but she had always assumed it would be more or less crowded than this. Either some horrible white room with a whole staff waiting to steal her child, or somewhere dimmer, alone or maybe with Clint. Now she has five people to help her walk around the room and to breathe with her and pet her and tell her she's doing well. When she gets irritable and doesn't want to be touched, they all pull back and just let Bruce monitor her. Natasha is deeply in tune with her body at this point in her career, and can tell that things are working. It hurts, but it's productive hurt, and the hours blur together as Natasha works on this problem the way she would at any other, finally forcing her daughter out. Bruce catches the baby, and Clint helps wash the baby, crooning about what a pretty girl she is, and proving himself completely besotted, because the baby looks like a new baby, bloated and blotchy and awful.

"Christ, she's ugly," Tony says, and Natasha lets out an exhausted laugh.

"Fuck you, Stark," Clint says, and Steve gently slaps the back of Tony's head.

"She's ours, damn it."

"She's perfect," Thor sighs.

"Give her here," Natasha mumbles, reaching out and taking the child. Bruce complies, and they all sit and watch Natasha nurse.

6\. Natasha isn't sure what to make of these hormones. She loves this tiny person more than anything in the entire world. Even with Clint, she's still not used to things she loves staying with her and so hardly dares to sleep. She doesn't do anything work-related or even vaguely productive, just adoring her baby full time. It's horrifying, but she can't seem to stop. The only comforting thing is that her whole team joins in, cooing softly at the baby. Thor is incredibly gentle and quiet, and just pets their daughter's bald head with one fingertip, while Tony sits close and tells her that the world is full of awesome things and that she's gonna love it. He did the same while Natasha was still pregnant with her, and now the baby looks up at him with those big, googly eyes that can only focus at face height because that's all that's important.

Natasha has wondered about her own childhood before the Red Room, if there was ever anyone who held her and sang to her and did all that maternal stuff. Now she knows, because all her life she has been trained to be a killer, but her honed and deadly body still knows how to cradle her daughter, how to hold her close and love her best and turn all her killer's nature and nurture against anything that might harm this child.

Steve sketched a portrait before Natasha could even get out of bed, but still draws the baby every day as they all try to decide on a name.


	2. Chapter 2

7\. Bruce offers to run the labs to find out who Nika's biological father is, and Natasha knows they should. There are various health issues to think about with any of them, and of course her beautiful little girl should be protected from the diabetes in Clint's family or the heart disease in Tony's, and god knows what congenital conditions Steve might pass along. But it still doesn't seem fair. They all love Nika so much, and the thought of changing that, of giving one of them more claim than the others, breaks Natasha's heart. So she thinks about it for a long time, looking down into that tiny face so like her own that it's impossible even to guess who provided the other half of Nika's being.

Clint prowls into the room as Natasha wakes from her and Nika's afternoon nap. She sleeps on her back with the baby on her chest because putting Nika somewhere else gives her nightmares. In the Red Room they would have loved to have Natasha's baby to mold into a killer from her first breath, and Natasha can't shake the fear that someone will take her. Natasha has only been allowed to keep the things she loves for a few years, and it can be hard to remember in the space between sleep and waking. She tenses to see someone in the room, then every muscle in her body relaxes, because it's Clint, and Clint means safety.

"How are my girls?" Clint coos, settling on the edge of the bed.

"Well-rested," Natasha says, stroking Nika's wispy hair.

"Good," Clint says, and smiles down at the baby. Natasha feels a brief flare of hope that Nika is his after all, and it feels like disloyalty to the others. Clint sees it in her face. "What's wrong?"

"Bruce wants to run the labs. Find out who the biological father is." She sighs. "I want to for health reasons, but…"

"Yeah. Look, I promise I won't get weird about it if it's not me, if that's what you're worried about."

"I’m not worried about that exactly, but thank you."

8\. "Come on, it's like our own episode of Maury!"

"Tony, you are the most tasteless bastard I know," Bruce says, collating the results. Five possible fathers is a lot of data to work with, and it is five. By some miracle Bruce is actually fertile, if way under par, and Asgardian and human DNA are actually compatible after all, so it takes him a while to get through it all. The others are waiting outside the lab, and it's actually kind of cozy. Figuring out the paternity of your own child is a strange weekend occupation, but any time with Bruce in the lab is a good time. Tony loves Bruce so much he can hardly stand it.

"Bruce, I love you so much I can hardly stand it," he says, and Bruce chuckles.

"Good."

"So who is it? If it's me I will totally get weird about it. I'm not proud of that, but you know I will. Is it Thor? Is Nika a half-alien demigod?"

"She has some Asgardian markers, but… wait a minute."

"What?" Tony scrambles to look over Bruce's shoulder. "Hang the fuck on. Bruce, is that--?"

"Yes. Holy shit."

Clint scrambles out of a vent and drops to the floor. "Holy shit about what?"

"Damn it," Tony growls, "is Natasha in there too?"

"Of course not. Too much dust for Nika. Now what's wrong?"

"Not so much wrong as deeply, deeply weird." Bruce points to the tangle of genomes on the screen. He highlights one. "This is Nika. These," He says, pointing out a few sequences, "are Asgardian genetic markers."

"So it's Thor?"

"Not exactly. These markers are from you." He lights up the relevant ones, and then another set. "These are Steve's."

"Wait…"

"Nika has markers from all five of us. She's genetically all of ours."

"Holy shit."

"See?" Tony says, pulling out a package of freeze-dried strawberries and nervously munching one, holding the bag out to Bruce who takes a few without looking.

"Thanks, Tony."

"Yeah," Clint says, "I do see. Any idea how in the hell that happened?"

"I'm blaming the resident fertility deity until we find any evidence to the contrary," Tony says, offering Clint the bag. 

Clint takes a few of the crunchy slices, nibbling one. "Damn, that's sour. Anyway, shouldn't we go tell the others?"

They should go tell the others, and Bruce leads the way out, still looking deeply confused. Natasha is settled on the couch, nursing Nika while Steve and Thor bookend them like friendly lions. Steve looks up when they come in, more anxious about this than any of them. 

Thor just smiles. "Well?"

"Well, our findings are very peculiar," Bruce says, pulling up an ottoman sit across from Natasha and show her the results.

"I see," she says, and Steve squirms, because of course he doesn't.

"Nika has DNA from all five of us, and we're still not sure how," Bruce explains.

"Yeah, but we thought Thor might know." Tony adds.

"I did not do it on purpose, I assure you," Thor says, "but my innate magic may well have combined our essence within Natasha."

"So she's one-tenth alien and all magic, huh? Cool." Tony eats another berry and offers the bag around again.

9\. Steve isn't sure what to make of Nika's provenance, but he knows he loves her more than anything else in the world, and that'll have to do. He always meant to be a father someday, and that day coming both sooner and later than expected isn't going to stop him. Reading up on it, he's pleased to see that the old idea of too much love being bad for a child has mostly fallen by the wayside, because he can hardly bear to put Nika down. She's such a warm and cuddly little weight, and looks up at him with enormous blue eyes that Tony says may or may not change color. She looks more like Natasha than any of them, which he supposes makes sense.

"Gonna be a knockout when you grow up," Steve tells her, offering her a bottle because Natasha is out. Much as she loves the kid, she's still Natasha, and is starting to get a bit stir-crazy. Nika fusses a bit, and Steve realizes the milk is too cold. "Well, ain't that silly of me?" He coos, setting it back in the pan of warm water. "I can't be giving you a cold lunch at your age." Nika babbles in response, and Steve nuzzles her fuzzy little head. She still has that fabled new baby smell, and Steve wonders if there are visible hearts over his head.

Of course, there's one problem with loving the baby so much, and Steve feels it keenly when a loud noise at the end of the room makes him plaster himself against the wall, Nika tucked in against his pounding heart like they're being bombed.

"Just Thor, sir," JARVIS says soothingly, and Steve laughs at himself even as Nika starts to cry, understandably startled.

"I am sorry, Steve," Thor says, coming closer much more quietly and setting his box of donuts on the table. "May I?" He reaches for Nika and Steve hands her over. "I'm sorry, little one. I didn't mean to startle you," Thor coos, and Steve rescues the bottle before it gets too hot. Nika quiets as Thor gently rocks her, and before long she's back in Steve's arms and sucking down her milk as Thor devours a maple bar and tells Steve all about this amazing bakery he has found.

10\. Tony still can't get over it. That he has actually played some part (one tenth, what the fuck, Thor?) in creating an entire new human being. He doesn't know a damn thing about babies, but he can at least hold her properly. The engineer in him tells him to support that bigass head and to keep within baby pressure tolerances even if no other experience pool does, and god help the poor kid, Tony loves her.

"It's not always a good thing," he tells says softly, both of them up at four am, "for Tony Stark to love you. But I'll try and keep the bad shit away."

Nika just gurgles, and reaches for the hard light model of the quinjet. Tony smiles. "You can't fly until you grow up," he murmurs, "but I'll teach you if you want."

11\. Bruce is Not Panicking. It's hard work, especially when he had for once underestimated his issues, but he's alone with Nika and he cannot panic. This sudden terror of his own capability to harm her has swept up out of nowhere and is threatening to choke him like dust on the wind.

"Sir?" JARVIS asks, "Are you all right?"

"I—I think so." He takes a deep breath, glancing over at the bassinette at the end of his work table. Nika is sleeping peacefully, and Bruce is assaulted by a vision that seems to come from without, compelling and perfectly formed. He sees himself raising one arm and batting Nika off the table like a losing game of checkers and breaks into a cold sweat. Deep within, Hulk stirs.

_BANNER NEED?_

_No! Stay down!_

_BANNER SCARED._

_Yes, but you can't help me here! Please!_

Sometimes Hulk listens. Now Bruce can just imagine the uneasy grunt as he settles back down, watchful.

"Should I activate the security protocols, sir?"

"No, Jarvis. I'm all right."

"Very good, sir." A moment later some soothing pan flute music is playing, and Bruce smiles.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, sir. The others will be home soon."

"I know, Jarvis. I just… I can't help but worry."

"Sir, I am programmed to keep anyone from harming Miss Veronika. That includes you."

A knot in Bruce's chest loosens. Tony knows him so well.


	3. Chapter 3

12\. Clint doesn't know anything about babies, but that doesn't matter. He reads all kinds of books on it with his sniper patience, the subject of his research cuddled in one arm. It's fucking embarrassing, how much he loves this kid. He's always lurking somewhere around her, and spends most of his nights in Natasha's room. She's not cleared for sex yet and doesn't feel like it anyway, so he spends a lot of time just holding her the way he holds Nika, loving both of them as yet another gay orgy goes down in the room that's all of theirs.

13\. The question of who to leave Nika with when all of them have to Avenge at once is burning a hole in Natasha's mind. She can't think of anyone she trusts enough who has enough time, and the thought of just hiring a nanny, however well-screened, makes her skin crawl. She lies awake at night, worrying. Thor offers to find a trusted Asgardian retainer, but that's still someone Natasha doesn't know.

One exhausted morning she puts the question to Tony, sipping warm milk while he has coffee. He ponders it for a long moment, then snaps his fingers. "Jarvis. We already trust him with our own well-being and safety."

"Yes, but he doesn't have a body."

"Leave that part to me."

14\. JARVIS finds the new body fascinating. It's soft, for one thing, and warm for another. It's at optimum baby temperature at all times, soft polymers over a nearly indestructible frame. The hands are works of art, carefully and lovingly articulated. They're based on Natasha's, so they're delicate and strong. JARVIS flexes the hands when the necessary upload is complete, and reaches out for the baby doll that his master is holding.

"Sir?"

"Here, try not to squish it."

JARVIS does not squish the doll. They spend days making very certain that everything is perfectly calibrated before they give him Miss Veronika to hold. She is very warm and very heavy for her size, a soft little thing who looks up at this body's face and giggles, reaching up to pat it. JARVIS supposes that this must be what love feels like.

14\. Steve can't help but be a little leery of the robot, but it continues not to crush or drop Nika, and he does trust JARVIS. Mostly. Still, he runs in after their first mission as a team since the baby's birth, deeply relieved to see her asleep in her crib, the robot standing inert beside it.

"Jarvis?"

"Miss Veronika has eaten well and seems to be in excellent health. All bio-readings are optimal."

Steve reaches the crib and looks down into it at Nika sleeping peacefully and sighs. "Thank you, Jarvis."

"You're welcome, sir. The baby is a joy to look after."

"Aw, you hear that?" Tony says, wandering in wearing boxers and an undershirt. "Told you he had experience with way more difficult clientele, Steve."

Steve grins at him. "So you're a baby now?"

"Forever young, honey." Tony stands on tiptoe to kiss him, and Steve wraps his arms around him. Since it's just after a mission, the kiss deepens and Steve ends up scooping Tony up and carrying him off to where the others have congregated on the giant bed. Natasha is technically cleared for sex, but really hasn't been interested. They can hear her cooing to Nika over the baby monitor that looks so out of place with the sleek, ultramodern furniture, and Tony grins. "Thank god we have each other, huh?"

"I gotta admit, I am glad," Steve says, blushing and already hard. Tony just grins, pushing him down onto his back.

"Damn straight. Or not."

Steve rolls his eyes, then grins as Tony hauls his shirt off. They're tangled together and kissing hungrily when Thor comes in, wrapping around Tony from behind and just grinding against him until he can't take it anymore and is begging for Thor to just fuck him already when Clint and Bruce come to join them, eyes bright and avid.

15\. Bruce has been doing his best to keep Hulk well away from Nika. He meditates on calm, and he meditates on Nika, trying to hammer through Hulk's thick head that Nika is both unimaginably fragile and precious and that she can never be a threat and that he must not come out around her.

And then there's another attack. JARVIS of course takes the baby to the panic room immediately, and Bruce transforms, Hulk roaring and destroying the way he usually does. After the incident during Natasha's pregnancy, there is now a voice code for the Hulk on the door. Looking around and seeing the bad metal flying things all smashed, he knuckles over to panic room.

"HULK NEED IN," he says, and the door opens. The good not-metal thing comes out, the tiny most precious thing of all safe in its arms. Banner says Hulk must never touch the tiny thing, but he hasn't said anything about looking at it. It's very small and very pink, and it's sleeping. Hulk is glad to see that. The bad metal things didn't scare it.

"Miss Veronika is safe, Mr. Hulk. I trust all threats are neutralized?"

"HULK SMASH," Hulk agrees, still staring at the tiny thing. "TINY THING SLEEPING."

"That she is, sir."

"Even with your decibel level, big guy. That's the Stark coming out," Metal Man says, landing beside Hulk.

"HULK QUIET."

"For you, sure."

16\. Nika is seven months old when she finally meets the only grandma she's going to get. Thor warns them just before Frigga appears on the roof, and greets his mother with a big hug, leading her to where Clint is cuddling Nika.

"Our daughter, mother."

Frigga beams down at the baby, who looks up at her like the two of them are in on a secret. "Uh, hi, ma'am," Clint says, and Frigga kisses his cheek. 

"Welcome to the family, archer." She welcomes each of them in turn, and just holds Bruce in her arms for a long moment as he clings to her, unable to help himself. "Welcome, dear one," she says very softly, finally letting him go.

Even with Frigga's maternal field calming all of them, Natasha can't help but feel a little threatened. Frigga is infinitely more qualified for what has abruptly become the most important job in the world. It would be easy for her to steal Nika away and feed her golden apple mash or whatever it would take to make her immortal. Natasha wonders if the apples of Idun are even real, but her baby is the daughter of five fathers because of Thor. It's hard to rule anything out.

Frigga seems to sense it, and spends a lot of time assuring Natasha that she's doing a good job with Nika. It's irritating to be so easily read, and even more irritating that Frigga's assurances help so much. Still, when Nika gets colic Frigga is a font of useful advice. As is Steve, who was to absolutely no one's surprise, a very colicky baby.

"I blame you for this," Tony mutters, gently rocking Nika as she squalls.

"Like you never had colic," Steve says, looking over his shoulder. "Try burping her again."

"That only works when Frigga does it."

"Come on man, don't let Natasha hear that."

"What? Frigga's immortal, I'm sure she's spent hundreds of years perfecting burping techniques. Can't compete with that."

Natasha laughs as she comes in, even if she is exhausted with Nika's crying. "I'm not that insecure." She goes to Steve and kisses his cheek before doing the same to Tony and scooping Nika up, cooing at the baby and arranging her over her shoulder, rubbing and patting her back just the way Frigga does. Nika pauses in her crying, and urps something up onto Natasha's shoulder, finally quieting. "There, see?" Natasha murmurs, stroking the reddish wisps on Nika's head. Nika snuffles and is asleep while Natasha cleans up.

17\. Soon enough Frigga has to return to Asgard. Natasha is only a very little bit relieved to see her go, and mostly feels sad and adrift like she supposes children left by their parents do. Thor is actually sniffling, and Bruce puts his arms around him, looking even sadder, poor motherless boy.

Luckily they soon have a mission to distract them from the moping. It's not particularly dangerous, but it's still a mission and has its usual effect on the boys. Natasha has only just started to touch herself again, but watching them go at it over the surveillance cams as she sits with the baby, she realizes that she wants to join in. She waits until Nika is asleep, precious little pink thing that she is, and then sets the monitor and gets up, making her way to the main bed they all share unless they feel like sleeping alone.

The air smells like sex, and all five of them are lounging together, Clint and Tony cuddled up in Thor's arms, resting their heads on his shoulders. Steve and Bruce are both on the Tonyward side, Bruce nuzzling Tony's waist and Steve snuggled in against Bruce's back, face buried in his curls. Natasha grins, and saunters over to the bed, climbing in and wrapping around Clint from behind.

"Hey, stranger," he purrs, and wraps his arm over hers.

"Did you miss me?"

"Damn right we did," Tony says. "Always do, no matter how good the gay orgy is."

Natasha laughs, and starts to slide out of her clothes.


	4. Chapter 4

18\. They have missed Natasha, and Steve knows the others are as eager as he is to show her how much. Still, they take their time. Natasha's breasts are so tender now, and Steve handles them with care and he settles behind Natasha, holding her up as Clint does his best to kiss her senseless. Tony and Thor join in, pressing their lips to her shoulders, neck, and breasts, as well as Steve's hands where they cradle them. Bruce just watches with a soft smile before leaning across and kissing Steve on the mouth. Natasha purrs and nuzzles Bruce's shoulder as they relearn how all six of them fit together.

19\. Weaning Nika is more traumatic than Natasha was expecting. The baby is thrilled to try any new solid food, but Natasha finds herself missing it. She misses cradling Nika close and feeding her from her own body. There was something so… secure about it. Natasha checks everything for poison and maintains her drug-free nursing diet even though she's really starting to crave coffee again. Now is one of those last spread out feedings, though, and Natasha feels almost drugged with her contentment, holding Nika close as she suckles. Nika looks up with those big blue eyes like Natasha's face is the only thing in the world, and she smiles softly. It's not really time for a nap, but she sings a soft Russian lullaby anyway, smiling down at Nika as those big eyes blink shut, little pink mouth still busy.

Clint prowls into the room, and Natasha smiles at him. "Hey," He says softly, coming to sit by her. "Baby still awake?"

"For the moment." Natasha sighs, leaning on him. It will be such a relief to dry up, not to have to haul these swollen, leaky things around anymore, but she will miss this when it's gone. Clint smiles like he's reading her mind, and kisses Natasha's forehead.

20\. The media has to find out about Nika eventually. It happens on Steve's watch, a simple walk with the baby in a sling around his chest turning into tabloid fodder. Everyone wants to know whose she is and where the mother is, and it gets bad enough that Natasha quietly runs away from home with Nika for a few days, hiding out somewhere even Clint won't find her. She feels bad when she comes back and all of them are frantic despite her note. Thor actually looks like he's been crying, and scoops her and Nika up into his massive arms.

"Seriously, Tasha," Clint says, voice suspiciously thick, "Never do that again."

"I'm sorry," she whispers, nuzzling Thor. "I just… I got scared again." Thor's arms tighten around her, and Clint comes over to kiss her cheek and Nika's, Nika crowing happily and hugging Clint's head. She has missed all of them, and Natasha hands her over to Clint. "She missed her daddies."

"And we missed her. You should've seen Bruce."

The guilt is a physical pain in her heart. "Is he all right?"

"Mostly. He's buried in the lab right now, but Steve is getting him. Tony, too."

"How did Tony take it?"

"Much better than the rest of us, because it's the kind of thing he would do."

Natasha grimaces, and prepares to be yelled at by a furious Fury and talked to by a disappointed Coulson. She has never been sure which is worse.

21\. All the lecturing finally done, Natasha is glad to come creeping back in and see Tony. It's quiet, the others all busy adoring Nika in another room. Tony is just waiting for Natasha, though, and sets his drink down and opens his arms to her.

"Hey," he says. "Welcome back."

Natasha plows into his arms and clings to him. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Tony holds her for a long moment, and then leads her to their room, where Nika is babbling and patting Clint's face with her chubby little hands. He beams up at her, Thor cuddled close on one side, Steve on the other.

"Where's Bruce?"

Tony sighs. "Dealing with being angry with the mother of his child. He thinks he shouldn't feel that way, even though all of us were pissed at you. I'm over it, before you ask. I mean, you did leave a note."

"I was more pissed I couldn't find you," Clint says, and Natasha sighs, crawling onto the gigantic bed.

"I have to have some secrets."

"I guess you wouldn't be you if you didn't. Just… you scared us, Tasha."

"I know." She sighs, and kisses Clint's cheek, nestling in between him and Steve. "I just wanted to hide."

Steve nuzzles into Natasha's hair, breathing in her scent. "Next time, hide with us."


	5. Chapter 5

22\. Bruce knows the girls are home, but he can't bring himself to leave the lab. He feels… he doesn't even know what he feels anymore. He's still angry, and scared of being angry, and guilty about being anything like his father, and horrified to occupy his father's place, of being one of the things the mother of his child runs away from. It's been years, but he still has murky memories of the episode on the Helicarrier, and shudders now.

"Bruce?"

He looks around wildly at the sound of Natasha's voice and there she is, with Nika in her arms. Nika makes a loud, happy noise, reaching for Bruce. He's afraid to take her, but Natasha hands Nika's trusting warm weight over and he has no choice. He cuddles the baby close to his chest, and looks down into those big blue eyes. 

"She missed you," Natasha says, watching them. "She missed all of you."

"Then why did you take her?" Bruce snaps, keeping his voice quiet despite the tone.

Natasha smiles sadly. "Because I was afraid."

"Of the press?"

"Of Nika being taken away from me."

They sit down together after that, and talk about their fears in quiet voices, Nika babbling and gnawing on Bruce's sleeve. About all Bruce's terror of becoming his father, and how scared Natasha still is at the idea of Nika being stolen and molded by people like those in the Red Room. Bruce growls at that, and hugs them both.

"Natasha, that would happen over all our dead bodies. That's why you scared us so much by going away. At least with you here we can help protect her. I was… I was afraid you'd never come back," he says softly, nuzzling into Natasha's hair. She wraps an arm around his neck and cuddles close.

"I was never not going to come back, Bruce. I didn't even think that for an instant."

23\. All the running away and evading done, it's time for a press conference. Most outlets have correctly assumed that the baby is Natasha's, and now all speculation is about the father. Nika looks almost exactly like Natasha, paternal DNA hidden. She could belong to any of them, and Natasha ponders who to choose as public father. She's not going to tell the truth, the truth is far too interesting. And the tabloids would scream about what a whore she is, which would upset Steve. And the others, probably, so she calls a meeting to discuss it, Nika in her arms as they all gather around the kitchen table on the communal floor.

"So," Tony says, "are we finally calling that damn press conference?"

"Looks like we have to," Natasha agrees, shifting Nika. "I've been thinking about which one of you to publically claim. Any child of an Avenger will be a target, but a half-alien baby or a baby who might carry super soldier modifications would be even more of one."

Steve looks incredibly sad, but just nods, leaning on Thor. Thor puts an arm around him. "I understand, Natasha. Would not Clint be safest, if we must play it this way?"

Clint flinches, looking around at the others. "I don't want… I'm pissed we can't tell the truth, but I see why. Just… if I really start acting like she's only mine, fucking kill me."

Bruce pats his shoulder reassuringly. "No, we'll just all withhold sex."

Clint laughs, even if the sound is a little broken around the edges.

24\. Their press conference is held in the base of the Tower, all the security cranked up to the breaking point. Natasha is torn between leaving Nika floors and floors above them in JARVIS's arms, and being able to keep an eye on the kid herself. Tony finally solves her problem by patching her phone into the nursebot's eyes. She watches Nika sleep and even has the baby's vital signs on the side of the screen, courtesy of JARVIS. She's filled with so much love for Tony that she doesn't dare look at him, needing to maintain her focus. She hates these things. She hates every single reporter that files in, because they're the reason she can't just be with her family today. Clint takes her hand, squeezing it gently. She squeezes back, knowing he hates this even more than she does. A sniper made conspicuous is a dead sniper, and poor Clint is going to be the center of attention. He's also wearing a suit, which he hates. Steve is in his ancient dress uniform and Thor is in his first suit ever, trying to remember not to pluck at the collar or fiddle with the ends of his tie.

"All right, kids," Tony says, looking them over, "ready?"

"No," Bruce mutters, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, too bad. Come on." Tony leads them out into the barrage of questions and cameras.


	6. Chapter 6

25\. Clint wants to crawl out of his own skin, and only looking at Nika on Natasha's phone helps at all. Tony addresses the crowd and gets a few laughs before someone in the front row finally manages to ask about Nika's identity. Clint tenses, and then it happens. Tony turns the mic over to Natasha, who tells them that Nika is hers, and that Clint is the father. No, there is not a wedding planned. She stonewalls them about everything else, but she has told them enough. They all turn and pounce on Clint, who mutters 'no comment' to almost everything, wishing he was better at this. It freaks him out how much they all want to know, and he's glad when Tony claps his hands and says, "Okay, time to go!" and hauls all of them back out of sight.

"You all right?" Tony mutters when they're alone again, headed up to Natasha's floor in the elevator. Clint nods, even though his skin is still prickling with goosebumps.

"Yeah. I just… wow."

"Welcome to celebrity," Tony says, and kisses Clint's cheek. Clint sighs and nuzzles him, pressing close in the needy way he so seldom does. 'That bad, huh?" Tony says, and kisses him on the mouth, hugging him tightly. Clint blushes, feeling ridiculous.

"Yeah," he whispers, and Steve hugs them both, kissing the top of Clint's head.

"You did good, Clint."

"You think?"

"Yeah." The doors open then, and they step out to the sound of Nika squalling and JARVIS trying to soothe her. Natasha is off like an arrow, the others following right behind.

"Ms. Romanov, I assure you that Miss Nika is physically quite all right. I believe this bout of crying is from missing you."

"Well, we missed her," Steve says, and they all gather around as Natasha takes the baby from the robot's arms, making soothing noises and cuddling her as she sniffles and hiccups to a stop.

"There, there _malyutka_ ," Natasha croons, "We're home." Clint puts an arm around Natasha's shoulders and looks down at Nika and wonders if love will break him where everything else has failed.

26\. The press explodes over Nika, and Clint and Natasha become known as 'Clintasha', something they both detest so much it's actually funny. Tony knows it's mean, but he can't help using it sometimes when they annoy him, because it makes them look like a pair of wet cats. Everyone is speculating about why they aren't getting married, but no one is getting it right. Tony is kind of proud of that, and randomly kisses Steve for not being transparent when he meets him in the kitchen. Steve blushes and kisses back, cuddling Tony close the way he always does and that Tony loves so fucking much and does not want to talk about.

"How's the news today?" Tony asks when they break apart, Steve's hands lingering on his hips.

"Still full of Nika." He sighs. "I was kind of hoping it wouldn't have to be like this."

"'Fraid that's the way it is, Capsicle."

He chuckles. "I guess so. It could be worse."

"Yeah, imagine if they knew the truth. Where is the kid, anyway?"

"Playing with Thor, last I checked."

Tony kisses Steve again, and then wanders out and collects Nika because she's getting tired and drifts off easily in Tony's workshop. Thor kisses Tony's forehead and then Nika's, making her wave her chubby little hands to pat his face. He chuckles, and goes to join Steve as Tony carries Nika to the workshop. He's just going to look over some light models and notes, nothing hazardous. The place is dim and cool, only the console lit. Next to it are two tabloids and a note from Pepper about needing to come up with some kind of interview for Clint and Natasha.

"You're famous now," Tony coos to Nika where she rests in the crook of his arm, "and it sucks. Yes it does. Famous baby." Nika looks up at him and crows happily, grabbing his beard. Tony grins. "God, you really are a lot like me, aren't you?"

27\. Natasha hates to reveal anything about Nika, but she sits on the couch and does not hold Clint's hand however badly she wants to. They don't lie and say they're the only two people in their relationship, but let it be assumed. The reporter seems like a nice girl, but Natasha knows all about seeming nice and looking harmless. Nika is safe in JARVIS's arms, floors away because Natasha doesn't care how thoroughly-screened strangers are, they're still strangers. Besides, it's time for Nika's nap.

28\. Thor can understand the interest. Truly, he can. America has no royal family for the people to care for, so Nika and children like her must stand in as princesses of the realm. Much as it distresses the others, Thor understands the world's need for photographs. He cradles Nika in one arm as they take the pictures, the other hand wrapped around Mjolnir.

"Such a sweet baby, aren't you?" The man croons, and Nika babbles, reaching for the lens. Thor chuckles, and the photographer grins. "That's a great shot, thanks."

"How many more do you require?"

"I think that'll do. Don't suppose I could get the parents with her, could I?"

The deception always hurts, but Thor ignores this particular pang. "They are both…. I believe the phrase is 'camera-shy.'"

The photographer sighs, packing his apparatus away in all its neat little cases. "So I've heard. Well, tell them their kid is a joy to work with."

"I will," Thor says softly, cuddling Nika.

 

29\. It's only after they deal with Dr. Doom that all hell really breaks loose. There are cameras that Steve doesn't notice in time, and Clint has nearly died (again) so Steve kisses him. There's nothing brotherly about it, nothing they can pass off when the photo turns up. It's actually a great picture, Clint looking small and sweet in Steve's arms, clinging to him and tipping his head back like something out of an old movie as Steve kisses him deep and slow. Of course, the headlines scream about infidelity. As far as they know, Clint is cheating on the mother of his child with Captain America, for Christ's sake. It's an ugly, ugly thing, and Tony knows that the only thing to do is face up to it, but everyone else is dragging their feet. 

They all hate dealing with this kind of thing way too much for how famous they are. Tony has been wanting to come out anyway. He loves all of them, and is sick of having to pretend they're not together. Yes, it'll blow the fuck up, but everything they ever do will blow the fuck up until something more amazing comes along, and they're pretty amazing and should just deal with it. He means to say as much to Natasha, but runs into Clint first. Well, Clint and Bruce, but it was Clint he was looking for. They're in the middle of watching _Metropolis_ , for like, the third time, so Tony doesn't feel too bad about getting in front of the screen.

"Clint, we need to talk."

Clint groans, nuzzling Bruce's hair where Bruce is tucked in against his side. Bruce is half-asleep and just blinks slowly. "Do we have to?"

"Yes."

"What, did I get more death threats?"

"A few, but that's not the point. The point is that Steve has gone through all the punching bags and has actually started to cry, so we need to move on this."

"Fuck fame," Clint grumbles, "a sniper's not supposed to be famous."

"I know, baby, but you are. And you know Steve'll just break and tell the truth anyway."

Clint sighs and sits up. "Where is he?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Tony says, and grabs Clint's hand, leading him away and blowing Bruce a kiss as he does. Bruce just tips over onto his side and curls up as the false Maria dances. "He'll be fine, but I'm not so sure about Cap."

"That bad, huh?"

"A stupid fucking jackass whose initials are T.S. left an issue of _People_ lying around and the fool read it. I told him not to."

"Like you could've resisted."

"Sure, but I’m used to it." They're outside Steve's bedroom now, and Tony knocks on the door. "Come on, Steve, let us in." There's a significant delay, but Steve finally opens the door, his eyes red and puffy.

Clint sighs. "Aw, honey. Come here." He wraps his arms around Steve's neck, pulling him into a soft kiss and then just holding him. Steve lets out a shuddering sigh. "I should've listened to Tony," he mumbles against the top of Clint's head.

"Yeah, you should've."

Tony wraps his arms around both of them. "Guys, we need to just come out. The truth is the only thing that's going to end this."


	7. Chapter 7

30\. They don’t hold many house meetings, but press attention seems to bring it out in them. Usually they can talk things over in twos and threes without having to remind themselves so much of the Avengers working out their strategy, but this is too big for that. They all settle around the kitchen table, and look to Natasha where she sits holding Nika.

"With our cover blown this far, only the full truth will make _anyone_ leave us alone," she says, and shifts Nika. "Much as I hate full disclosure, I think we have to come out."

Thor sighs. "Truly, Natasha, I have never understood our secrecy. There is nothing shameful in our love."

Steve blushes, and Tony puts a comforting arm around him. "No, Thor, there isn't. But surely you've seen how damn judgmental people can be about sex."

Thor sighs. "I have, but are we cowards, to care what such people think? The truth is far better than this appearance of dishonor. I say we do this 'coming out.'"

"Thor," Steve says, "to a lot of people the truth will be dishonor." He drops his gaze to the table, looking ashamed of himself. "I… People see Captain America a certain way, Thor, and I just don't know what will happen, or what it will mean."

Clint sighs, and kisses Steve's cheek. "Steve, baby, would you rather been seen for the honest pervert you are, or for a homewrecker?"

Steve takes a deep, shuddering breath. "I just hate that anyone thinks it's their business. I don't even like kissing in public, I don't want… I don't want people on the internet imagining all of us fucking!"

Tony throws his head back and laughs. "Sorry, sorry!" He takes a deep breath, and looks to Steve with a straight face. "Steve. They absolutely already are. It comes with the territory. Hell, I'm sure people were imagining you fucking the U.S.O. girls back in the forties, they just didn't have the internet to anonymously share it."

Steve groans, thumping his head on the table. Clint strokes his hair. "Them's the breaks, Steve."

Steve sighs, and sits up. "I guess I have no choice."

"Steve," Bruce says softly, "think what it will mean for other people in relationships like ours."

"…Oh." Steve's eyes go dreamy and determined at once, and Tony grins.

"Nice shot, Bruce."

"All right," Steve says, "you're right."

Thor joyfully thumps the table, and reaches across to take Steve's hand. "Let us be honest and forthright, Steve. This skulking suits us ill."

31\. Tony's natural inclination is to make a show of it, but they all defer to Steve. All of them resent the lack of privacy, but Steve's feelings about it are the tenderest. The thought of another press conference makes him break out in a cold sweat, and after what seems to be a genuine panic attack (made all the worse when it reminds him of the asthma he used to have), they decide, as a team and as a family, to just grant one interview and let everyone else fight for scraps. Pepper calls around to find someone for them strong enough to deal with six Avengers who don’t really want to have this conversation, and gentle enough to keep Steve from bursting into flames. Tony lavishes her with praise that makes her laugh, and she promises to get back to him once she has something worked out.

32\. Steve is shaking when the time comes, and Thor holds one of his hands and Clint the other. Bruce is behind him, reminding him to breathe, and Tony is leading the way. Natasha stays by Steve, Nika snuggled up in her arms.

“It’s all right,” she says softly, and she can see Steve trying to believe her. Nika looks up with enormous and solemn eyes, her stubby little fingers crammed into her mouth. Steve smiles, and murmurs that it’s okay and that Nika is a sweet baby girl, yes she is. Natasha passes Nika to Steve, and concentrating on her keeps him from freaking out, just as Natasha hoped it would. He’s much calmer when they step out into the first floor common room. It’s far from the first floor of the tower, but it is the first of their part. A middle-aged woman is sitting at the end of the couch, and she smiles at them, tucking a lock of greying hair behind one ear. She might be anywhere from forty-eight to an extremely well-preserved sixty, but she’s definitely a silver fox. Natasha hides a smile to see Tony checking her out, because he probably doesn’t even realize he’s doing it.

“Well, hello,” she says. “I’m Anne Douglas from the Star and I’m here to pry into your business.”

Tony cackles, and sits right down beside her. “I think I’m gonna like you.”

“I’m certainly glad to hear that, Tony. I’m sorry, I just can’t call you Mr. Stark if we’re going to get personal.”

Steve blushes, but settles at the other end of the couch, cuddling Nika. Clint and Bruce take the middle, and Thor and Natasha arrange themselves on the loveseat. Belatedly, Natasha wonders what an outsider would make of this placement. She’s getting sloppy in her old age, with all this love around.

“Absolutely,” Tony agrees, lounging easily against Bruce. “No need to get formal.”

“I’m glad to see Nika looking well.”

“I’m glad she’s too young to know what people have been saying,” Steve says softly, sounding perilously emotional. Clint puts an arm around him.

“Steve’s been taking this pretty hard,” he says softly, and Anne nods.

“I’m not surprised, and I’m sorry it’s come to this.”

“Since it has, you might wanna tell all those people threatening to kill me for cheating on Natasha that I’m not.”

“How do you feel about that, anyway?” Anne asks.

Clint shrugs. “Eh. Better men have tried harder.”

Anna chuckles. “Good answer, and I guess that brings us to the biggest question, which is ‘what _is_ going on?”

Natasha sighs. “The narrative we’ve culled from the media is that Clint is cheating on me with Steve, who has been corrupted and led astray.”

“Somehow I doubt that this is the case,” Anne says, studying her with honey-colored eyes. 

Nika starts to cry, and Steve stands up, rocking and hushing her and using the excuse to move behind the couch. Natasha isn’t worried about the baby because she’s seen this before. When any of them reach a certain level of anxiety while holding Nika, she squalls, forcing them to soothe her and themselves at the same time.

“So you and Clint have an open relationship?” Anne asks as Nika quiets down, Steve still crooning softly in her ear.

All of them laugh at that, even Steve. “No,” Natasha says, “it’s very closed. It just has more than two people in it.”

“The three of you?”

Tony rolls his eyes. “Life’s too short for this. We’re all in it. Tell _everyone_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, gang. I also need suggestions for things to put in after I'm done playing with the media fallout, so let me know if you have any ideas.


	8. Chapter 8

33\. Tina runs the whole way home from school with the magazine clutched in her hand. One of the big girls left it on the playground, and Tina picked it up because it has the Avengers on the cover. Pretty much everyone thinks they're cool except for Cathy, who doesn't get to think anything is cool because her church won't let her, but Tina really likes them. She knows all kinds of things that the other kids don't, and has been trying to follow this latest tangled grown-up drama. First Black Widow had a baby without a dad, which happens all the time as far as Tina can tell, and then it turned out Hawkeye was the dad but that they weren't getting married, something that _also_ happens all the time. Tina isn't really sure why, since if she had a baby with a guy she still liked afterward she'd want a big wedding with everything pink and silver, but some people don't like weddings. It had made her a little sad, since Black Widow would be the prettiest bride in the history of the universe and there would have been great pictures to collect, but it's okay.

What wasn't okay was Captain America kissing Hawkeye. Tina had felt sick to her stomach, remembering her friend Valerie's story about how her parents's divorce had happened. She hadn't even really thought about both of them being boys, because that happens all the time. Besides, her mom and Iron Man both say it's fine. She had been worried about Black Widow's feelings being hurt and had sent her an email and even gotten a reply, thanking her for her concern and assuring her that everything was fine. Grownups lie, of course. Even Avengers, so Tina hasn't been sure things are _really_ all right, but she also hasn't thrown away all her Hawkeye stuff like Grace did.

Now, though, Tina is more excited than she has ever been in her life. She throws the door open, dropping her backpack on the mat and throwing her coat down on top of it. “Mom!” She hollers, “Mom!”

“Tina, what is it?” Her mother comes in from the office where she writes her science articles, rubbing at the bridge of her nose where her glasses make her sore sometimes. She looks tired, but Tina knows she'll be interested in this.

“Mom, the Avengers are like us! Look!” She thrusts the magazine at her mother, who blinks and stares and then starts to laugh, that deep, happy sound she only makes sometimes. Tina grins from ear to ear, watching Mom turn the pages, looking at the various photographs and parts of the interview where the team explains that just like Mom and Mama and Dad, all the Avengers love each other and Natasha's daughter is all of theirs. After a long moment, Mom stops laughing and hugs Tina tight, still smiling.

“I have to get started making dinner, but go show Mama.”

Tina nods, and runs off to the garage, where Mama is taking the worn out tires off of the car. Dad will probably know about it before he gets home, since he has a whole office of people who might find out online or leave something like this around, but Mama is truly surprised. She crows with delight and does a little dance with Tina on the oil-stained concrete floor. They sit down and read the whole thing together. Mama likes Captain America best, and smiles at the part where he explains that he never expected any of this either.

 

34\. Rob is fucking _nauseated_. In a whole goddamn world of whores and skanks there had been the Black Widow. Icy, controlled, virtuous. A real Aryan princess. And now it turns out she's the whole team's fucking slut. At least none of them are colored, but Jesus. He had thought she had dignity, and here she is just letting the rest of them pass her around. He has to put up with people yelling the news across campus all day, and the goddamn GSA kids hugging and buying drinks for people. He's so fucking glad to get home and log into Stormfront, where people actually understand things. It's good to see everyone else so disappointed, so brokenhearted. The Black Widow is just the group mattress, and Captain America is a fucking fag. It's the end of the goddamn world, and no one else even seems to notice.

 

35\. Beth isn't sure what to think. On one hand, it had been a relief to see her daughters exchange Ke$ha for the Avengers, who actually do things for the community, even if Tony Stark does engage in a lot of drinking and partying. Dealing with Kayla's tears and Martine's rage over the whole infidelity thing had been exhausting, and so the first feeling upon coming home to find her daughters giggling and jumping gleefully up and down had been profound relief.

“Is it all right after all?” Beth had asked, setting her purse down.

“It is, Mom! Everything's fine!” Her girls had looked so beautiful in their joy that Beth really wishes she had taken a picture. And then they had explained that apparently the whole team is sleeping together, which somehow makes things okay. Beth really isn't sure what to think. After all, it can't possibly _last_. She worries about Nika, too, since how in the world will the girl turn out all right with six parents?

 

36\. There has already been talk of banning Avengers merch here so Abdul has to be careful, but his brother needs to see this. It will mean so much to Khaliq, with his heavy, heavy secret. He prays every day for Allah to help him bear his corruption, to remove this sin from him. For him to know that Iron Man is the same will have to help. He runs into the house past his mother, who yells for him to slow down, and charges into the back where Khaliq is studying.

“Khaliq, Khaliq!”

“What is it?” Khaliq looks up from his book, frowning.

“Look!” Abdul puts the magazine over the open pages. The interview is a long one, so Abdul has it open to the important part. The part where Tony Stark says that they're not just sharing the Black Widow, that all of them love each other the way Mother and Father love each other, the way Khaliq loves his friend, who plays soccer and has no idea. Khaliq has the whole thing read really fast, of course, because Khaliq is so smart and probably going to college. His lower lip starts to quiver even though he's eighteen years old, and he hugs Abdul so tightly that it hurts a little.

 

37\. Nevaeh hates her parents. She hates them from the bottom of her heart and she will never, ever, _ever_ forgive them. She had been mad when they threw out her black lipstick, but that was just lipstick and it didn't really work on her, anyway. This is different. All of her Avengers merch is gone except for the Hulk hoodie that her friend Michelle was borrowing. Nevaeh is wearing it now, her door locked and her music up. It sucks that she has to use fucking Creed of all things, but she's stuck with it when her parents can hear. She sighs. Really, it had been a miracle that they hadn't done this after Black Widow had her baby. Nevaeh wishes for the thousandth time to be older, to not be just thirteen and fucking stuck here.

 

38\. Fred sighs, looking at his sermon notes for the coming Sunday. Rewrite time again. At least this time it isn't some horrible tragedy. He smiles, and opens his Bible to John 4:8.

 

39\. Ami wakes up to the Bonnie Pink ringtone Chika put on her phone, and feels around for it, wondering why anyone is calling her so early on a Sunday morning.

“Hello?”

“Ami, Ami! This is unbelievable!”

“What is it?”

“Our doujinshi is canon now!”

“WHAT?!” She says it much louder than she means to, and her mother bangs on the wall to let her know. “Sorry, Mom!” she calls more quietly, and finds her glasses and puts them on, switching on the lamp beside her bed. “Seriously?”

“Yes! Nika-chan is the whole team's daughter!”

They spend the rest of the morning talking about it, and Ami can't help but be a little smug as she watches Dad's jaw drop as he reads the newspaper.


	9. Chapter 9

40\. Interview requests and talk show invitations pour in, and Pepper whips a publicity team out of the ether. They're good kids, for the most part. She adds a few older hacks to keep things as much under control as is actually possible, and then stands back and lets them do the fighting. Much as she still loves Tony, this is part of why it couldn't work. She sighs and sits back from her desk, flexing her stocking-clad toes beside her empty high heels.

“Holding up all right?” 

Pepper looks over to see Natasha in the doorway, and smiles. “Shouldn't I be asking you that?”

Natasha shrugs. “It's generating more work for you, since you're one of the only trustworthy people we know. I thought you might like a break.”

Pepper would like a break, and that's how she ends up on the roof with Natasha, sipping a freshly made Cosmopolitan and talking about the tv shows they have in common, which are the ones they watch like trainwrecks.

 

41\. The raw amount of letters and emails is kind of hard to even think about. Clint still isn't used to being a person who gets fanmail, and this is just too fucking much. Still, if everyone in the goddamn world is going to care about his business, it's nicer to get more apologies and congratulations ithan death threats. It becomes a household ritual, going over the mail whenever they have a family breakfast. Right after the Battle of New York, SHIELD handled most of their mail, fan or otherwise, but these days they try to answer some themselves. Especially the ones from kids. Those are given to priorty, and make up almost the entirety of the breakfast mailbag. Or mailbox, since SHIELD personnel bring the envelopes and printouts in a cardboard box. Now it's tradition for the box to rest on the center of the table beside the serving dishes while they eat.

This morning is especially good, because they're actually all here. Bruce isn't darting in for toast and then out to the lab again, Tony isn't just coming in from an all-nighter, and Steve has made about ten thousand buckwheat pancakes. He's wearing pajama bottoms and an apron and looks extremely lickeable. So Clint licks him, just a quick one on the shoulder.

“Clint!” Steve yelps, and Clint just laughs, kissing his cheek before swooping down on Natasha and Nika, nuzzling and cooing at the baby, letting her hug his head with her chubby little arms.

“Baby therapy,” he sighs, pulling back at last and smiling back at Nika's toothless grin.

Natasha laughs softly. “In need of therapy already, Clint?”

“I like to store it up.” He kisses her and then takes a seat and a short stack, drowning it in maple syrup. He probably shouldn't eat as much sugar as he does, but sometimes he has to give in to his white trash instincts. 

Tony grins at him. “Bacon?”

“So much bacon,” Clint says, suiting action to words as he sweeps half a dozen strips from the platter Tony is holding out.

“You guys are gross,” Bruce murmurs, cutting a pancake into tiny squares, “stop being gross.”

Thor laughs, and nuzzles Bruce's ear, nibbling a bit and making him blush. “I doubt they know how, beloved.”

“They should still try,” Bruce says primly, and Steve laughs, bringing a last batch over and loading his own plate.

“Mmmm,” Clint moans, stuffing his mouth with bacon, “delicious greasy animal fat...”

Natasha wrinkles her nose and kicks him under the table. “Ugh, stop that.”

Clint swallows and laughs, wiping his hands. “Sorry, baby.”

“I forgive you this time, but only because you're cute,” she says, and Clint is hit hard and low with just how much he loves everyone around this table.

Once Steve has inhaled enough food to be comfortable and people can push their plates aside, Thor hands around the letters. There's a fat stack for everyone, and Clint smiles down at the one on top of his. As near as he can tell, the crayon picture on the envelope is supposed to be him holding a little blob with red on its head that must be Nika. He glances over at his daughter and smiles. She had come out bald as an egg, but now she has wispy, barely-there red curls.

“Aw, that's cute,” Tony says, leaning over to see.

“Yeah. Lessee... Trish Brauner, huh?” He reads the short letterto himself, grinning by the end because the kid is five and a half and wants to learn to shoot a bow and thinks it's neat that Nika has five daddies. He grins and passes it to Natasha, who trades him for Nika so she can use both hands to open her mail. Nika starts to fuss and then quiets when Clint cuddles her. He smiles. “Just so long as someone pays attention, huh, princess?”

“Ba!” Nika agrees, patting Clint's stubbly face.

“Hey, some Japanese girls sent us a comic,” Tony says, laying the pages out. “I'm supposed to translate for you guys, apparently.”

They all move to get a better look. It's pretty cute, with all six of them in bed together when Nika starts crying, prompting a zombie-looking Natasha to get up and go to her, each of the others waking and going after her in turn, until all of them are asleep again on the floor by her crib, little chibi Nika resting atop the pile. Clint grins, and kisses the real Nika's head as s he chews on her own fist, big blue eyes trying to focus on the papers.

“Yeah,” Tony says after he's done reading the minimal dialogue to them, “this is going on the fridge.”

 

42\. Steve winds up giving an interview to _The Advocate_ , despite being intensely confused by the whole process. He stammers and blushes his way through it in a hotel room with a nice young man from the magazine, because there are some things that Steve feels he must do alone. He doesn't really know anything about 'gay culture,' as it's called these days, but he does know that it's important to have a history. So he tells this boy everything he can about being queer back before the term had been 'reclaimed,' and what it was really like 'back then.'

It's still bizarre for Steve that what might as well be the Dark Ages for everyone else is so painfully near to him, but he does his part as a piece of living history. A whole day spent reminiscing makes that description seem to fit more than ever, and by the time Steve has sent the reporter off with a wide smile and a firm handshake, he's honestly feeling pretty low. He wanders down to the hotel bar for a Coke, keeping the bill of his ball cap down and hoping no one recognizes him.

It actually seems to be working until an old man comes over to Steve's table. He's very upright even though he must be at least eighty, a frail little bird in a big black coat with a GOD IS IN FULL CONTROL button on the lapel. “May I?” He rasps, gesturing to the open seat.

“Uh, please do, sir,” Steve says, raised to be gracious to the elderly no matter what.

The man sets his beer on the table and eases himself down onto the bench, wincing. “Oh, what a drag it is, getting old. Peter Barry, by the way.” He extends a long and bony hand, and Steve shakes it carefully.

“Pleased to meet you, sir. Steve Rogers.”

“Glad to know I'm right.” Steve can't help but tense, so unsure of what this person wants. “Don't worry, I'm not selling leads to papers and I'm not going to yell your identity for the whole bar. There's just something I want to say to you.”

“Sir, if you disapprove of the form my family takes...”

He laughs, the sound crackly but still full of life. “Oh, hell no! Get it where you can son, get it where you can. I wish you all the best of luck. No, no, this is an old man's apology for his youth.”

“Sir?”

He laughs again. “I was one of those guys who was yelling at you to get off the stage, and I always felt bad about it.”

“Mr. Barry, don't worry about it for a second.”

“I felt worse after you went into the ice. But how often does a man get a second chance like this?”

Steve smiled. “I guess you've got a point.”

They spend the rest of the afternoon talking about their shared history, a pair of travelers each glad to find another from their vanished nation of the Past.


	10. Chapter 10

43\. The letter is like a fish hook hidden in a sandwich. Someone hasn't actually read this one over, apparently. It's easy to imagine some junior agent just checking for the polite greeting and the friendly farewell. Whoever it was managed to miss the death threat neatly slotted into the middle. In a distant, cold, _scientific_ sort of way, Bruce has to admire his correspondant's gift for imagery. He describes bashing Nika's head in with a hammer in such graphic detail that Bruce sets the paper down and stands up, his ears ringing.

“Bruce?” Clint is cuddling Nika in his arms, and she's looking up at Bruce with those huge, trusting eyes and he will never let anyone hurt her. No one will hurt Nika, because Hulk will smash them. Bruce turns and runs, mostly green by the time he hits the containment chamber, throwing himself into it and giving into the change as the door locks behind him.

Hulk looks around wildly for the threat, and roars with rage when he can't find Nika or anything to smash. He roars for his baby, furiously battering the transparent but hatefully impenetrable walls. “Mr. Hulk!” the voice says. The voice is also the good not-metal thing that takes care of Nika, so Hulk slows down just a little. “Mr. Barton is bringing Miss Nika. She is safe.”

Hulk stops hitting, but keeps pacing. “WANT NIKA.”

“She is coming, sir,” the voice assures him, and then Hawk is outside the cage, holding Nika in his arms. Hulk goes to the wall and stares through it. His vision isn't so good, but this cage isn't all bad. Metal Man made it for him, and Metal Man knows that Hulk likes to be able to smell things. Now he can smell fat, healthy baby, and the good scent of Hawk.

“NIKA.” She makes a little trilling noise and reaches for him with her tiny, fat, pink little hands, pressing them flat to the glass. Hulk puts his hands up too, and smiles. “BABY SAFE.”

“Yeah, big guy,” Hawk says. “We won't let anyone hurt her.”

“Ba!” Nika says, and Hulk chuckles.

“GOOD BABY.”

“That she is.”

Hulk wants to touch, too, but Banner always says that Nika is fragile. Hulk tries to keep that in mind, but it makes him sad not to touch. “HULK WANT HOLD,” he finally says, and sits down to show that he can be calm. 

Hawk thinks about it for a long time, and then says, “You have to do exactly what I say, okay? You're really strong and she's really squishy.”

“HULK UNDERSTAND.” Hawk nods, and opens the small door, coming inside. Hulk smiles, and Hawk smiles back. “Okay, put out your hand.” Hulk does, palm up, and Hawk gently puts the baby in his hand, her little head supported at the top of his palm and her hips resting on his forearm. She giggles and reaches up, and Hulk smiles, keeping his hand very still. “HULK CAN TOUCH?” he asks, and Hawk says he can, but to be very careful. Hulk is very careful, and just touches Nika's squishy little belly with the tip of his forefinger. It makes her laugh, and she grabs onto his finger, making more loud noises and chewing on him. It doesn't hurt at all, and even if it did Hulk wouldn't mind. “HULK LOVE NIKA,” he says, and Hawk looks strange, kind of happy-sad. Nika screeches happily, and Hulk chuckles, distracted. He's enjoying holding Nika, but after a little while Bruce starts to come back. “TAKE BABY,” Hulk says, pushing his hand toward Hawk. Hawk takes the baby, and a moment later Bruce is sitting in the shreds of his clothes, blinking.

“Totaled another pair of glasses, huh?” Clint asks, cradling Nika in his arms.

“Looks like it. We need better screening on the mail.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

 

44\. Having Child Protective Services called on them isn't exactly a _surprise_ , but it's still deeply unpleasant. Natasha slides into a cold and heartless place she thought was long behind her as she considers her options. She knows she can't actually kill the caseworker and run away, but it's a very tempting thought. As it is she smiles and lets this woman see whatever she asks to see. Clint sticks close by and gives Natasha something to hold onto.

“Now, we have no reason to suspect abuse or neglect, but we have to respond to every call,” she says, reassuring and sweet. Just the way Natasha would be before stealing a baby, and she nearly crushes Clint's hand as she shows the baby's crib and her toys and opens the fridge with its tiny plastic containers of mashed organic banana and similar things. The social worker nods and takes notes, and follows them to the Hulk chamber and watches the security footage of Bruce's last transformation. She looks fearful, and Natasha has a sudden and compelling vision of snapping her neck and stuffing her corpse into one of the vents, but then she smiles at Hulk's gentleness with the baby.

Natasha still doesn't really un-tense until the end, after the social worker has met Nika and cooed over her prettiness and witnessed her secure attachments to her trusted caregivers. Then the woman meets Natasha's eyes and says, “It doesn't really matter who a child's caretakers are so long as they have the child's best interests as heart.”

Finely honed deception senses let Natasha know that she really means it, and for the first time since this woman showed up, Natasha offers her a small, genuine smile.

“Thank you,” she says.

 

45\. Tony is always willing to work overtime to keep The Man off his back, and in this case that means making two separate woman suits for the Jarvisbot. One is Rebecca Smythe, their nanny, and the other is a replica of Darcy, who has already proven to be a pretty good babysitter. Now she watches as Tony rolls the mask of her face over the Jarvisbot's head.

“That is surreal as fuck.”

“The pupils even dilate and contract. LCD.”

“Eek.”

“I know it's creepy, and thanks for playing along.”

“Hey, anything to keep people from bothering Nika.”

“And that's why we pay you the big bucks.”

“How do you think the kid will take this?”

“Dunno. I'm mostly hoping to just use this as a decoy while a naked Jarvisbot does the actual looking after. I figure when she's older we can just tell her that it's Jarvis disguised as you. Not too complex.”

“Point.” Darcy downs the last of her Coke and tosses the can to Dummy, who catches it and happily trundles away to go add to his little can fort. “Where's the kid now?”

“Quality time with Mom. Natasha just got back from tracking down Mr. Death Threat.”

“Oh really?”

“I'm pretty sure she put the fear of god into him, but I prefer not to ask for reasons of plausible deniability.”

“Fucker shoulda known better anyway.”

Tony grins, and he can feel how mirthless it is. “Yeah, he should've.”

 

46\. The media scrutiny never really dies down, but they all start to get used to it. Even Clint, who greets thronging paparazzi outside of one of these goddamn charity events Avengers get shanghaied into by grabbing Steve and kissing him long and hard. Steve blushes but lets him, and the resulting photo might be even cuter than the one that outed them. Tony puts it up on the fridge, laughing and wincing as Nika yanks on his beard.

“Sweet baby,” Clint coos at her, “please don't snatch your Tony-daddy bald-headed.”

“BA!” Nika concurs, and grabs Clint's hair instead as Tony laughs.

“There is no escape! Here, you take her.”

Clint laughs, and takes Nika from Tony, letting her hug his head. “My own lil' face-hugger. Just what I always wanted.”

“Clint!” Steve squawks. “Don't compare the baby to xenomorph spawn!”

“Oh, so you did get around to 'Alien'!”

“Yeah, Tony,” Clint says. “I showed it to him last month.”

“Pretty good creature feature,” Steve adds, chopping carrots for the stew. “And of course I think Ripley is just swell.”


	11. Chapter 11

47\. Steve's interview seems to open the floodgates, and before long they're doing the rounds of more talk shows than they can easily count. It's a lot like the USO again, except this time he's allowed to be more honest about things. Sitting under the glaring lights of this set that's supposed to look like a living room with Nika chewing on his forefinger, he's not nearly as uncomfortable as he could be. She's teething, but she can't hurt him much.

The hostess smiles. “I guess it's no surprise that Hawkeye and the Black Widow had such a beautiful baby.”

“No surprise at all,” Steve agrees, returning Nika's smile when she beams up at him. And it isn't, even if it isn't the whole truth, either.

“And how's she doing today?”

“Just fine, ma'am. Growing like a weed and glad to be here with her Uncle Steve.”

“Da na boo!” Nika adds, clapping her fat little hands.

The hostess smiles, and soon they're talking like friends might, about daily life in the tower with Nika.

 

48\. Clint kinds of hates this shit, but he guesses it could be worse. He at least gets to do the show with a gay comedian for a host, and that helps him relax under the lights and make with the anecdotes.

“So," he says, after Clint's story of an argument between Natasha and Thor and its detrimental effect on his sex life, "do all of you...” he makes a vague and yet eloquent hand gesture, “together?”

Clint laughs. “Yes, yes we do" he mimics the host, hands at the same angle, "together.” This gets a roar of laughter from the audience, and another when Clint hopes aloud that he won't get in too much trouble with Steve.

 

49\. After this latest rash of public appearances, calling the other guy out to smash murderous robots to bits is almost a relief. Bruce wakes up to the usual hot, blurred, green memories, even more blurred vision, and lack of pants. Sometimes they actually survive, but not this time. At least it's a warm day. He drags himself upright and starts looking for scraps, assuming someone who doesn't have semi-amnesia will find him and explain things. And hopefully bring him his glasses.

"Mr. Banner?" It's an unfamiliar male voice, attached to a roughly Tony-sized blur.

"Don't suppose you've seen my pants."

"Those are pretty trashed, but I brought you some sweats." He comes closer, and squinting, Bruce is able to recognize a fairly famous anchorman.

"Huh. Copy for clothes?" Bruce says, pulling the pants on.

"We were hoping. Do you realize that no one has interviewed you in your current state?"

"Probably because I'm mostly useless."

"Still, Viewers Want To Know."

"You have given me pants," Bruce says, and rolls his neck. "And I'm not _very_ tired..."

"So you don't really remember?"

"I get flashes, and a general sense of things. If one of the team gets hurt I know it when I wake up. Today feels like it was easy."

"That's probably because your alter ego killed a cybernetic dinosaur with one hit."

"So I was right about that. Tony and I can never settle science bets until afterward," he explains, picking his way through pieces of what are probably parking garage, if he's interpreting the Hulk's green-tinted memories correctly. "Tony was thinking cuttlefish."

 

49\. Thor can't get the others to agree, and it's probably just as well. It hurts to know that he really can't trust Loki around his daughter, but for old time's sake, he deserves to at least see his niece through a scrying spell. Natasha is willing to allow that much, and for all his sneering, Loki looks eagerly into the orb Thor holds for him. Nika is sleeping, far away on Midgard, a wisp of red hair hanging in her face.

"She looks just like her mother," Loki says at last, his voice soft and his eyes intent.

"Indeed," Thor says in the same tone. "Her fathers mostly come out in her behavior."

"I can easily believe it. And my Hawk?"

Thor never talks about this with the rest, but controlling others has affected Loki deeply, leaving him with a perverse and ineradicable fondness for people who have every reason to despise him. "Doing well," Thor says, as gently as possible.

Loki chuckles. "There's no need to spare my feelings, brother."

"I'm not. Clint is very well and has been through enough therapy not to waste his time on hating you anymore."

"And the man of iron?"

Thor can't help smiling. "Tony is Tony, always."

"I know. That's what I like about him. And the scholar?"

"Dr. Selvig is... a bit unbalanced these days."

"My fault, of course."

"To be fair, his mind was open enough to accept me when I first came to Midgard. He may have been half-mad already."

 

50\. As SHIELD crumbles around Natasha, she's more grateful than ever for her family. It's good to have Steve at her side when she has to go on the run. She doesn't know what she would do if she didn't have someone she trusts to take Nika every now and then. After stability is restored and Steve is a mess from losing Bucky a second time, Nika pulls her weight in the group effort to keep him together. She's cuddly and affectionate with all of them, but she takes special care of Steve. She babbles and coos and smiles at him even more than the others, and chews on him and tugs his hair and cries just often enough to distract him from his grief. She couldn't do better if she had Natasha coaching her, and she tells her so when they're alone, Natasha changing Nika's diaper.

"You're very good for Steve, you know," she says, throwing away the soiled wipes and washing her hands before tenderly patting Nika dry as she giggles and chews on her fingers. "You are a very wise baby, and I trust you to take care of him, but remember that you need to sleep and play and grow, _malyutka _."__

__Nika gurbles up at her, and demands to be put on the floor as soon as her clean diaper is in place. Natasha chuckles, setting her on her fat little feet. Nika has started to stand with support and to pull herself along furniture, but Natasha isn't expecting her to suddenly let go and start toddling away on her own, making deliriously happy screeching noises._ _

__

__51\. Nika doesn't really try to talk until late enough that Bruce can't help but worry. She's bright and happy and healthy, and has been early with most of her developmental milestones, but it's taking her forever to make more than basic sounds._ _

__"You should try to make words," Bruce coos at her now, offering her a spoonful of strained peaches. "But not right this second. Right this second you should eat your peaches."_ _

__A chuckle makes him look up, and he smiles to see Clint watching them from the doorway. "I'm starting to think she doesn't talk because she doesn't need to," Clint says, coming over to fuzz Nika's precious little head and kiss Bruce's cheek. "I mean, we all do whatever she wants anyway."_ _

__"True, but it would be nice to be sure all the parts are working. Speech is complicated."_ _

__"Peaches!" Nika agrees, and Clint laughs until he cries at the look on Bruce's face._ _

__

__52\. Despite Tony's long history of extravagance, he only argues for a huge party for the sake of form. Nika's first full year is important, and he'd rather it was just the six of them, the guest of honor, and people like Pepper and Rhodey. And Coulson and Darcy and Jane and Rebecca Smythe, but still. An extremely small party, by Tony's standards._ _

__Natasha insists on a homemade cake, unwilling to trust anyone else with Nika's welfare. Tony can mostly understand that, and making the cake winds up being a fun group activity. They let Tony stir things to feel like a helper, but otherwise he's relegated to holding the baby, and he's fine with that._ _

__"Gonna be a good cake," he tells her, "even if it's hippie-flavor." It is hippie-flavor, mostly sweetened with fruit, but it's not going to be one of those lame sawdusty things. Bruce promises._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the enormous hiatus! I am fickle and capricious and full of lazy.
> 
> I'm planning to time-jump to Nika being three for the next chapter, so let me know if there's something you'd like to see dealt with at that age.


	12. Chapter 12

53\. Nika doesn't like these people. They're mean and boring and they wouldn't give her any more lunch even though she's still hungry. Now she's in a cage like the one Hulk-daddy has to stay in so much, because she got angry enough to turn green. She squalled and stamped until she ran out of energy, and now she sits on the floor and bawls because she misses her mommy and all her daddies and she wants to go home. And then there's a bunch of loud noises and yelling. That's scary, and she's trying to hide but the walls are clear and there are no corners. So she can see her Tony-daddy when he comes in to get her. His raises his visor and asks if she's okay, and she nods, bouncing to her feet. Now that Tony-daddy is here, the others must be close by. He doesn't know how to get in the regular way, so he tells Nika to lie down on the floor. There's a huge noise and when she looks up there's a hole in the wall. Beaming, she runs over and jumps out. The one bad thing about Tony-daddy being the one to find her is that his metal suit isn't very good for hugs. Still, she holds on and he flies out, Jarvis telling the others that Nika is safe and that Tony-daddy has her. He takes her back to the plane and gives her a bag of freeze-dried peach slices as all the others come back to join them. Steve-daddy is first, and Nika jumps into his arms, Tony-daddy still getting out of his suit.

"Steve-daddy!"

"Nika-baby," he says, something they all call her. He sounds like he's going to cry, and she hug him tight to make him feel better. Clint-daddy comes in, then, and Mama and Thor-daddy. Hulk-daddy is too big for the plane, but he has a communicator in his ear so Mama can tell him they have Nika safe, and Nika can say hi so he knows she's really there. When they get home, they all go to Hulk-daddy's cage with him, and he cuddles all of them and grumbles angry-happy like he does. Nika hugs him as best she can, and everyone has a nap.

Bruce-daddy wakes up, of course, because they're safe, and Nika gives him extra hugs because he doesn't always remember Hulk-daddy's time so well. Clint-daddy gets his glasses for him, and Tony-daddy helps him stand up while Mama goes to get some clothes for him.

 

54\. In classic form, Nika gets over being kidnapped a lot faster than her parents get over it. Given all the trials and tribulations of Captain America's life, Steve is a bit surprised at how shattered he actually feels, and how reluctant to let her out of his sight. He has nightmares and prowls the halls at night, even though she had been taken from a public place and home is presumably safe.

It's three in the morning, and Steve really should sleep. He's up and pacing, of course, and he stops by Nika's room, poking his head in. He sees a hulking shape beside her bed and doesn't feel much calmer when he realizes that it's Bucky. Bucky comes and goes, Nika's shadow uncle. He's still getting his head together and Steve's heart aches every time he sees him.

"She's okay," he says quietly. "Sorry I wasn't around."

"That's okay, Bucky," Steve says, padding over to join him.

"I'm working on taking out the rest of them."

"Don't... don't do anything wrong, okay, Bucky?"

He chuckles, dry and humorless. "I try not to." He stands and stretches, his lithe grace at once familiar and alien, and then turns to make his way out the window. JARVIS knows he's there, and doesn't sound any of the alarms that would apply to most other people. It always makes Steve sad to feel relief when Bucky leaves, but he still radiates menace and while Steve trusts him not to harm Nika out of malice, he knows how a flashback can make a person lash out. He sighs, sitting on the edge of Nika's bed. She sleeps like a particularly tired log, so he can stroke her tumbled hair without waking her.

 

55\. Clint tries not to be clingy, but it's hard. Nika is really getting too big to carry everywhere, but that shit is for normal dads with bad backs and middle-age spread. He could carry Nika for days, and basically does. She's really good about it, and hardly fusses. She's a little snugglemonster like, well, pretty much all of her parents. Sometimes she fusses, though, desperate to run and play, and Clint lets her, but he watches all the time. Now Thor is flying her around the room, making thunder noises as she shoots little sparks out of her fingertips. They're already teaching her to keep her powers hidden, and it kinda sucks that she has to prove so early that she's as good with secrets as her mom..

"Fly me to Clint-daddy!"

"Your wish is my command, tiny one," Thor tells her, and zooms over to Clint, kissing him softly. Of all of them, he comes the closest to matching Nika's aplomb, so much older than all of them, and raised as old-school royalty, where assassination attempts are just something all growing children have to deal with. Clint sighs, kissing back and then kissing Nika's fat little belly to make her giggle and kick her feet.

 

56\. Nika has been pretty much toilet-trained for a while, but when she does have a nightmare, she wakes up squalling and wet. Natasha wakes up at the noise, and JARVIS animates the Rebecca Smythe body to come help. Natasha bathes her baby and coos nonsense at her until she stops crying.

"What did you dream, sweetheart?"

"I dreamed they took me away. Far away. You couldn't find me."

"It was just a dream, baby," she says, drying Nika off. "And it wouldn't matter where someone took you, we'd find you. None of us would ever give up."

JARVIS has gotten the bed changed, but Natasha just thanks him for the effort and takes Nika back to bed with her. Nika cuddles down between Natasha and Bruce and sleeps soundly for the rest of the night. Natasha takes cat-naps, making sure every few minutes that Nika is safe.

"Hey," Tony finally mumbles from behind her. "I thought I was the insomniac."

"Mm. Well, technically I've already done your job."

"...Kid wet the bed, huh?" In vicious but justified retaliation for peeing in the suit and a thousand other indiscretions, toilet-training Nika had mostly been Tony's job. Doing it well had certainly cleansed his karma to some extent.

"Yes, but it's no reflection on your patience and skill." She pets Nika, who makes a little snuffling noise of contentment that sounds just like Bruce. "I've been expecting something like this."

"S'ppose so." He yawns. "C'mon, sleep for real. Steve will be awake in like, half an hour. It's cool."

Natasha reaches back for his hand, bringing it to her mouth and kissing it. Tony holds her, and she sleeps, knowing that Nika is safe.

 

57\. After such a shock, Nika needs her routine, and while they're all wary, they know Thor is right. Still, he's going to stay with Nika today, just to make everyone feel better. Besides, Thor likes the children. This place is called a preschool, and exists both to care for children while their parents work, and to teach them to be away from home and to interact with others. Everyone here is the child of someone like the Avengers, and Thor knows that Nika will need some exposure to what he can't help but think of as commoners even if he's not supposed to use that word, but this is a good start.

"Ball," she says to Franklin, and he nods, golden brows contracting in concentration.

"Okay," he says, and his hands glow softly. He's a very serious child, and a frighteningly powerful one,as well. He's also gentle, though, and a good playmate to Nika. Tony despises his father, but as long as it's not a real feud, there's no reason they can't play together. Now a blue ball appears out of nothing in his hands, and Nika and Azari clap gleefully before Nika takes it, starting a triangular game of catch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next time-jump is to age five, so please let me know if there are any milestones you'd like to see.


	13. Chapter 13

58\. Tony always overdoes things. It's a family trait, and he's past help now. Still, he's trying not to raise a Superbrat. Even more important than that, he wants Nika to have a good time on her fifth birthday. Fuck formal clothes, fuck inviting a bunch of boring-ass grownups she doesn't even know, and fuck the press. Tony has had to deal with all three of these things, and he may not be the most responsible father on earth (and thank god he's one of a set of five) but there's nothing wrong with his memory. All his birthday parties had sucked until he could plan and execute them himself, and he wants Nika's to be different. That doesn't mean he's not irked as shit that one of Nika's best friends in the world is Franklin "Christ, let's hope he takes after his mother" Richards.

"So I can't lie in wait for him with a potato gun?"

"No," Rhodey says, lightly swatting the back of his head. "I am not getting caught in the middle of a science feud at my niece's birthday party."

"God, he's such a douche. Really, he's such a douche I probably won't even see him. He'll probably just mail us the kid in a box without air holes."

"His mother might bring him."

Tony sighs. "If my eyes don't deceive me, there's somethin' goin' wrong around here."

"He's less like a gorilla and more like a bowl of cold pasta."

"Still. She could've done better."

"Not everyone can have your luck," Rhodey says, grinning.

59\. In the end, it's a pretty simple party, all things being equal. Just the team, Nika, and about ten of her little friends. It's still pretty nerve-wracking for Steve, though, and he's very glad that Franklin is so even-tempered. Xavi is a sweet kid but a bit difficult without meaning to be, still getting a handle on his telepathy, and Luna makes things worse by trying to help him. Steve wanted to get through this party without anyone bursting into tears, but at least he's able to get the kids separated and calmed down in time for cake.

Bruce has Views about too much sugar, and Steve doesn't really disagree, but cake is cake, and a birthday is a birthday. Nika had asked for a huge pink and white cake, and Steve had seen to it that she got one, made by his own loving hands and to a recipe that's old-fashioned now. Trimming the layers to make it heart-shaped had been an unmitigated pain in the ass, but it's all worth it to see the way Nika's face lights up and the way everyone devours it.

After the cake has disappeared and the presents have been opened, Nika sidles up to Steve and hugs him tightly. "Thanks for the cake, Daddy."

"You're welcome, kiddo," he says, scooping her up for a moment before setting her down so she can run off to play with the others.

 

60\. They haven't had any real security lapses since Nika was three, but that doesn't mean Natasha can relax. She's actually glad to catch sight of Bucky out of the corner of her eye as she walks Nika into her first day of kindergarten. He's lurking up on the kind of high vantage Clint likes, and it's soothing to know he's there.

"Mama, is that Uncle Bucky?"

"Ssshh, sweetie, you're supposed to pretend you don't see him."

"He is so weird." She rolls her eyes and Natasha squeezes her hand. It isn't any of their signals, just the steady pressure that means 'I love you.' Nika squeezes back.

Naturally, all her fathers wanted to be here for this historic moment, but Natasha had put her foot down. The poor teacher has put up with enough from them without having a whole pack of strange, famous, and thereby extremely disruptive adults descending on her first day of class. Many of the children have famous and/or powerful parents themselves, but it's hard to top the Avengers.

Azari is back in Wakanda these days and Xavi is being homeschooled like his brother David before him, since apparently all the Xavier Y chromosomes come with bonus mental illness, but Franklin and Luna are in this class. Franklin is already here, even though they're a little early. He looks up from a miniature galaxy and beams at Nika, letting the stars disappear as he hops up to greet her.

 

61\. All of them want to be involved in their child's education, of course, and they also hate letting Nika out of their sight, which leads to a lot of moments like this, Thor putting away the books he was just reading aloud as the class has play time. He looks over at his daughter's bright laughter and smiles, because right now she's playing dress-up and little Franklin Richards is meekly submitting to her whims, letting her cram him into the pink dress with the sequins. It honestly suits the boy, and Thor does his best not to think of Loki and get sad. He doesn't want to worry his daughter when she seems carefree.

"Now you're a princess, too!" She beams at him, and he smiles back.

"You're pink and grey," Luna says at Thor's elbow, making him jump.

"I didn't see you there, little one." He shelves the last of the books, crouching to be level with her. "And I'm not surprised. I was feeling happy and sad at the same time."

She scowls, kicking at the carpet. "Grownups are complicated. Daddy's all buzzing blue and cold white and the other colors change really fast."

Thor has only met Pietro Maximoff a few times, but he can easily believe this empathic portrait of the man. "Feelings linger more when you're older, I think."

"Maybe," she says. "Wanna color with me?"

Thor is always glad to color. The wax sticks are so slick and strange, unlike any artist's tool he had ever seen before building a family on Midgard, and Luna wields them to create fascinating color-portraits of the people around her. Now she makes two happy pink and gold figures, a smear of red on top of one and a streak of blue across the other's face marking them as Nika and Franklin.

 

62\. Bruce can't help but a little concerned at Nika's not teaching herself to read. After all, two out of five fathers did it at age three, but it sounds prickish even in his head, and he gets into comparing himself to his father and has to take a lot of deep breaths to stop. He's still not sure what he's going to tell Nika if she ever does ask about his parents. She's definitely starting to notice that her only real grandparent is Frigga, who is still incredibly weak from her near-death at the hands of the dark elves and can't visit nearly as much as she'd like.

"Hey," Clint says softly, coming up beside him. "Brooding?"

"Trying not to panic," Bruce mutters. He's gotten better at opening up this way, but he still hates it.

"Aw, baby." Clint kisses the corner of his jaw. "What's wrong?" Bruce sighs, swiveling his chair so he's not looking at his work anymore and can hug Clint around the waist. Clint plucks his glasses off, the other hand going to the back of his head, pressing his face into Clint's shirt. "There."

Bruce sighs, absently wrapping his hands into Clint's shirt, pulling on it because it was oversized to start with and is already stretched and blown out and fucked up. It's very comforting material. "Just, you know. Thinking about heredity."

"Is this the one where you feel like a douche for noticing that Nika's not the same kind of genius as you and Tony, or the totally irrational one about physically hurting her?"

"The first one, and it's not irrational."

"It kind of is, dude. You spend all your time keeping your temper, and both sides of you dote on the kid." He chuckles. "And she'll learn to read eventually. Took me a long time."

"I just don't want to be anything like my own father," Bruce mumbles, and Clint sighs, petting him.

"We'd fucking kill you, baby."

"Promise?"

"Promise."


End file.
